The Consultative Council (Majlis Al-Shura) met yesterday and endorsed the general agreement of cooperation between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The agreement covers economic, commercial, investment, scientific, technical, cultural, sports and youth affairs, and represents a framework for opening new avenues of cooperation between the two countries. Meanwhile, today the Shura Council reported its achievements during its first session and the first year of its second session. About 210 meetings were held, over 192 resolutions passed, and more than 234 topics reviewed. The Shura’s eight committees held more than 700 meetings, preparing 155 reports and reviewing 219 topics. The Shura’s petitions committee received over 480 petitions from citizens. In addition, Shura meetings were attended by a number of private citizens, about 230 in all, from various walks of society. Shura delegations paid 17 official visits to a number of Arab, Muslim and friendly countries, and the Shura Council received 15 delegations from various councils and parliaments of the world as well as 150 guests including ambassadors and dignitaries from overseas.

The Shura Council has established a library containing over 25,000 volumes, plus 305 periodicals in a number of languages as well as Arabic, and a total of 6,196 slides. The Shura organized 91 training courses in the fields of research, administration, libraries and other spheres, from which 434 employees benefited. The first Shura was established in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia about 1927. In 1992, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz announced the three systems of government that included the system of Shura. In 1993, King Fahd inaugurated the Shura Council in its developed and modern form. In 1997 a royal decree was issued to amend the third article of the Shura system and accordingly the number of Consultative Council members was increased from 60 to 90.